Television cameras caught Carr’s right pinky finger bent at an angle that suggested a dislocation or fracture. Del Rio said X-rays ruled out a fracture.

“I’m not a medical guy,” Del Rio said. “I know he banged it pretty good and he went in and made sure it wasn’t broken.”

Carr was equally vague during his weekly appearance on 95.7 The Game.

“I’m doing good,” Carr said. “Obviously it’s a little sore, but that’s expected. But it should be good. Just get some swelling down and we’ll be alright.”

Leave it Derek’s big brother David Carr, an analyst for the NFL Network, to spill the beans.

“It was actually dislocated in two places,” David Carr said. “When he originally went to the sideline in kind of a mass panic, which put my entire family into a panic . . .They popped it back and said, `OK, does it feel better?’ He’s like, `No, it feels pretty bad.’ ”

Wearing the glove, David Carr said, took a short period of adjustment, even though his first pass was a 17-yard laser to Clive Walford.

“With him, he can almost hold that ball and float that pinky,” David Carr said. “It’s almost useless. But it still hurts. There’s pain there. He had to get used to it. He’s never worn a glove before. The only time he’s ever put that on is messing around with me. He really doesn’t like it. But he threw the ball well.”

Derek Carr finished 26 of 38 for 315 yards, two touchdowns and one interception by linebacker Thomas Davis, which led to the Carolina touchdown that gave the Panthers a 25-24 lead.

The Panthers extended that lead to 32-24 before Carr led a 75-yard, 14-play touchodown drive, hit Seth Roberts for a two-point conversion, and then got the Raiders in field goal range for the winning points.

The biggest play was a third-and-9 rainbow to Michael Crabtree which got the ball from the Oakland 14 to the Carolina 37.

Trent Green, a CBS analyst, said on NFL Monday QB he once dislocated a pinky finger, but it was on his non-throwing hand and that it was merely put back in place with no issues.

“When it’s on your throwing hand, you have to make big adjustments,” Green said. “The ball comes out of your hand different when wearing a glove. The fact that Derek Carr was able to continue to play in the game and continue at such a high level was very impressive. He’ll have time now to get adjusted to playing with the glove.”

Del Rio believes a tone was set last year when Crabtree and Charles Woodson battled through injury to play, and that Carr was following that example.

“I think the team really got a lift from it,” Del Rio said. “To come back like that, put the glove on and lead us down and get the big win like that, it was good stuff.”

— Based on volume, Del Rio can sense that the fan base is getting increasing excited with the product on the field.

“As you get going, and the crowd knows you’re getting it going, you’re having that kind of year, the roar kind of picks up,” Del Rio said. “Right now, there’s definitely a roar there at home for us and it’s awesome . . .they can sense we have a good team and we’re doing good things . . . I think they appreciate it and we appreciate them.”

— Janikowski’s game-winning field goal came when the Raiders had a first-and-goal at the 6-yard line, and after a run by Latavius Murray to the 5, Carr threw incomplete twice to bring force the field goal attempt.

The Raiders were in a shotgun formation, necessitated by Carr’s injury and inability to take a snap from center. The two passes stopped the clock and gave Carolina precious seconds to mount a comeback after the field goal.

Del Rio said the play calls had nothing to do with being unable to utilize Carr under center for basic running plays.

“We were playing aggressively to get a touchdown,” Del Rio said. “You only get second-guessed when things don’t go well. If we hit it there, it’s going to be aggressively going to get a score. But if you don’t, you’re going to face that kind of question: `Why didn’t you run it there?’

“We chose to pass it there. That’s why. Bottom line is we held ’em, we get the win, and we did aggressively in any way you could.”

There were tense moments when Newton immediately hit tight end Greg Olsen for 20 yards to the 45-yard line and then Devin Funchess for 11 more yards to the Oakland 44. On third-and-10 with 1:05 left, Olsen couldn’t come up with a Newton pass at the 22-yard line — well within Nick Novak’s field goal range.

Khalil Mack made it all moot when he ended the game with a strip sack and fumble recovery of Newton on the next play.

Del Rio was impressed by not only that play, but the 6-yard interception return of a Newton pass for a touchdown late in the first half.

“He just collapsed that tackle, really nullified the chip by powering that guy,” Del Rio said. “Took the ball away and recovered it. It was a really great play. That was a great play right before halftime when he reached up. The reflexes were like a tiger playing with a ball. He just snatched it and goes in and scores and jumps rather easily. I know I couldn’t get halfway up that wall. He jumped into the Black Hole. That was pretty cool.”

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